at a glance...

Hometown: New York, NY
First Recordings: 1983

Members:
Charlie Burnham -electric violin
James Blood Ulmer -guitars and vocals
Warren Benbow -drums

Bands In The Family:
Ornette Coleman's Prime Time, Phalanx, Music Revelation Ensemble, New York String Trio

James Blood Ulmer has spent a long time wandering in the wilderness, wasting his talents on lackluster blues projects, and unconvincing crossover moves. This isn't just the reunion of one of his best bands ever, it's the first record I've heard by him in a decade that's worth the aluminum on which it's encoded. Burnham and Benbow aren't the flashiest players to work with Ulmer, but they play with the most heart.

The fiddler's heavily wah-wahed tone helps to bring out the grit in Ulmer's own playing, and the blended vibrations of the violin and guitar create a compelling background drone that underlies their choppy extrapolations. Benbow's crashing cymbals and steady bass drum set up dancing rhythms that both egg Ulmer on and frame his guttural string bashing in an accessible but non-pandering context. Ulmer's vocal excursions are, as ever, rudimentary bluesy chants uttered in a gravelly mumble that frees one to hear his voice as another texture, not a focal point.

The band never quite reach the fiery intensity of their earlier work, but they still play with assurance and ease. Welcome back!